Mixed Blood
by Hector123
Summary: For all the Percy Jackson fans out there, have you ever imagined yourself actually in stories. Meeting up with everyone at camp Half-blood, having your own back story and feeling like you truly belong. This is my beginning, from Lane Jansen,the Canadian kid with a personality disorder. To Hector, who helps the helpless, defends the weak and protects his friends. Enjoy and review
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Demi God ahoy, Captain! There comes a time in thirteen year old's life where he looks in the mirror and he knows what kind of person he is. For me, unfortunately, that time hasn't happened yet. For some reason I've always been a little different when it came to interacting with people. Your first thought might be "oh well golly gee, this kid probably has ADHD or dyslexia…. Or both HA! What a freak." Nope. I wish I had those problems. What I have is making me want to split my emotions in seven different ways. I mimic other people's personalities to fit in, but some people have horrific personalities and yet I still mirror them. My mind just goes into auto-pilot and away I go destroying friendships and siding with the bullies. I lived in a small town in British-Columbia, Canada called Kamloops (sounds like a breakfast cereal, I know). I never escaped all those betrayed faces, as a small town you never really could avoid anyone. The pain I caused for so many people keeps me up at night, I'll never forgive myself. As my personality was constantly changing, my house was a safe zone where I couldn't hurt anybody. My two parents were extremely nice people, along with my two brothers. In that house I was just me or at least I just tried sticking to one personality that suited me. Well I should probably notify you that those aren't my real parents and those aren't my real brothers. Alright boys and girls, here's when everything got freaky. Like Michael Jackson's "Thriller" music video freaky. Like shaved cat freaky. Like… ok you get the point it got FREAKY. Oh ya. Name's Lane Jansen or at least I thought it was.

CH.1 Freaky

As I returned from yet another day of eighth grade, the only thing that going through my mind (besides delicious cream puffs) was how I could have defended so many helpless kids from bullies. But as usual, I got somewhat disoriented and just stood back and watched. This happens every time, I can't explain it. My personality has personalities, if that even makes sense. I can't control them. Needing to cool off, I stormed downstairs to my bedroom, which was right beside the basement bathroom. I threw my backpack on the bed, splashed my face with ice cold water in the bathroom. I looked up and studied the face I have come to hate. Short light brown hair (that changes to a dirty blonde in the summer), matching the light brown eyes, large angular nose, large curvy lips and a strong jaw line.

"Jansen, you got the looks, but not the friends," I muttered. "True friends that is."

Hours went by and I found myself fast asleep. The funny thing about dreams is that in most cases you know you're dreaming. Let's just say the dream I was having was a tad bit different. I was in the middle of nowhere standing on a train track with a slight breeze running through my hair.

Wait, what? I could feel that. I thought to myself. Am I sleep walking or something because I can literally feel the wind on my skin, the sun on my face, the train tracks vibrating, the wh…wait. I look down and the bloody tracks are shaking! But when I looked both ways there wasn't a train in sight. I hear a faint sound coming off the tracks. Like the sound a train makes when its braking. I slowly put my ear to the metal tracks and the closer I got the more it didn't sound like a train braking. I heard screaming, like the blood curdling type and strangely animalistic sounding. It grew louder and louder the closer I got. I looked up just in time to see the headlight of this train. Everything went dark. All I was thinking was that when I wake up from this disturbing dream, I'm most likely going to be covered in a pile of my own pee.

"EAST, HECTER! East." A voice boomed from the dark.

Silence. The scene flashes to me lying in my bed, (no pee thankfully) but I was looking down at myself in third person. Cuts start forming an acronym of some kind on my forehead. It looked familiar.

CPR

Don't get me wrong, watching this is pretty nauseating and would completely damage you emotionally. But this was totally the scene from that harry potter movie where that witch lady was making the students use a magic quill to burn words on their skin. Just saying. I watch a lot of movies.

I woke up in the middle of the night and rushed to the mirror. There was nothing where the mark should have been. I remembered what the acronym stood for, 'Canadian Pacific Railway' and it totally made sense considering the dream I just had with the train. What about that weird voice in the dream too? It sounded synchronized, almost like there were two people saying the same thing at once. At that moment, I felt the strangest feeling. It was like I was in the middle of very humid cloud and all of a sudden it just dissipated around me. I knew right then and there I was just…me. No multiple personalities, just one. I've never experienced this before, I don't know what kind of person I am. But do know one thing.

"I need to catch a train eastbound." I said to myself

The desire that drove me was powerful and unexplainable. I had to leave this life behind, bury it and run. So I packed some extra clothes, food, handful of cash and hopped out my bedroom window into the cold rainy night.


	2. Chapter 2

CH.2 Wait. How long did I sleep for?

A pang of regret surged through my body. I was just going to leave behind the family that raised me without saying goodbye. But the feeling I had to get on that train rivaled any other feeling towards my family, my home and my life. I put my hand on the concrete wall and kept it there for a couple of seconds to absorb all the love and goodness I had received throughout my life.

"Goodbye" I whispered.

I walked out in the rain with a black tuque, black rain jacket, jeans and a hockey bag with all my stuff. Rain poured down my face, I didn't blink, I didn't flinch, I just kept my gaze on the tracks. I slowly started walking to my back gate one step at a time. The thought of running away was unimaginable, but every molecule in my body was forcing my steps. A walk turned into a jog, a jog turned into a run and a run to a sprint. I jumped over my wooden gate with the hockey bag around my shoulder and into the back alley towards the main street. It was so dark and the only thing that illuminated the street was the neon lights from the local car repair shops. I kept running until I saw a small runner's bridge over top of the tracks. I started to slow down.

Well, all I have to do now is wait until a train stops over the bridge and I stealthy climb aboard. Piece of cake, I thought.

"HONK! HONK!" A train echoed over the town.

It was starting to pull ahead, but with speed. Faster and faster until well… "faster" wasn't part of the criteria in my full proof plan. It wasn't going to stop. So I started sprinting again. The bridge was a football field away. I could already see the last cart of the train.

"It's gonna be close, very close." I said aloud as I was approaching the steps of the bridge.

The last cart was pulling away from me. The amount of adrenaline in my body was ecstatic. I felt like I could run ten miles with conditioned marines, fight a pack of wolves and beat the halo 3 campaign(on legendary) all within one night. Anger from my past started to consume me, I could feel it in my bones, when I gritted my teeth and when I breathed in the cold air. It was fueling me. My eyes turned to my hands and I could see my blood threw my skin. Was it glowing? Great, I thought, I'm going to die looking like I giant god dam tomato. I planted my foot on the railing of the steps and took flight.

"TOO CLOSE!" I shouted as I soared threw the air with incredible speed.

With all that speed and strength, I could tell I wasn't going to make it. The cart was at least ten feet ahead of me. I was mid-air thinking of all the regrets I had while I was about to crash on the tracks and most definitely break my legs. But when I should have been plummeting to my double cast doom, I was just…gliding. A burst of wind had swept all around me and hurled me threw the sky. It was so tempting to start singing the opening song from space jam, " I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky, I think about it every night and day, spread my wings and fly away!". But that seemed a bit much. So I just screamed for my life instead.

"Ahhhhhhhhh"

I landed on something hard and cold. It felt like jumping into a McDonald's ball pit, but instead of the plastic balls there were bundles of coal. Yes, you read correctly I'm now in a cart of coal. I guess I was put on Santy Claus's naughty list. Thanks fat man, jolly good joke. My hands weren't red anymore, that's a relief. I tried my best to get comfortable for some shut eye. That wasn't going to happen, so I sat on top of the cart. After the train passed through the valley and the prairies, I reached the forests. Pines, maples, larches and spruces were scattered everywhere. They were beautiful with moonlight pooling over their foliage. It was almost perfect, almost.

Dead silence, I thought, why aren't there any owls or dear? Then it crawled up my spine, the screams from my dream. They ripped through the night and echoed around me, I wanted to bury myself in the coal. There! Something dashed just behind the tree line, just thirty feet away from the train. Shadows jumped from behind tree to tree. A figure ran out into moonlight for just a few moments. Is that a lynx? No, the son of a bitch had a mane…. And a goat was laying on its back. Or was it? And the tail was a bit….off as well. It ran alongside the train, twenty feet out now. Two others shot out of the trees, flanking the leader. The train went over a narrow bridge that crossed a river. All three halted at the river still letting out those painful screams. I didn't realize I was holding my breath because of how scared I was, I slid into the pile of coal. My eyes slowly closed and just like that I was dead…. just kidding.

"Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today, I want to be a part of it."

Is that Frank Sinatra dancing on the train? Ever since my personality disorder had vanished, I've been having really weird dreams. This one isn't that bad though, oh look, here come the nude show girls. That's it ladies, take off those braziers in three, two and…."Easy on the brakes Vinny!"

"No, no, come back!" I blurted out as I woke up.

"Vinny you schmuck," yelled a voice. "You think you can stop a train like they stop fighter jets on air carriers!? You can't just go balls to the wall and full BRAKE!

What the hell, I thought, where the hell am I? I peeked my head over the edge and couldn't believe what I was looking at. This giant sign read "65th Street Railyard, New York", I almost threw up on myself.

"Wait. How long did I sleep for?" I said as if someone would answer me.

I must have slept for weeks. How the hell is that possible? I looked myself over, my skin and clothes were covered in soot. I smelt exactly like my fireplace back in B.C. New York, huh? I wandered, I always wanted to get one of those delicious food stand smokies. And so all my worries were squashed by my new craving. I climbed out of the cart and started running towards sky scrapers. Fast forward an hour later, I had just demolished three chilli cheese dogs and was making my way over the Brooklyn Bridge.

So this is where the voice meant when it said east, I thought. Well this is as east as I could get. If I'm going to stay, I need money and somewhere to sleep. I kept walking deeper into lower Manhattan, until I saw a beat up old van with an old guy standing beside it in dark green coveralls.

"Hey kid," he shouted. "Looking to make a few bucks?"

"What's the job?" I asked hesitantly.

"Assistant janitor full time and living quarters are provided."

"Ah what the hell, I'm in"

"Excellent!" He said cheerfully. "A strong young lad like yourself can surely scrub the toughest of stains off the toilets."

"Can't wait," I said sarcastically. "By the way, where are these toilets located?"

"It's a ways upstate," he replied. "Place called Yancy Academy."


	3. Chapter 3

CH.3 Caution! Wet surface ahead

Scrub! Scrub! Scrub! For the past two weeks I've been cleaning toilets and mopping floors. I'm truly living the life, the life of an underpaid janitor's assistant. You wouldn't believe the horrific things I've seen in the washrooms, stuff of nightmares. Well, I guess it could be worse, they could ship me back to Canada.

I was just starting to clean the main hallway when I heard whispering coming from behind me. As I turned around I got pelted right in the face with some kind of sandwich. I peeled it off my face and try to figure out what was in it. Is that peanut butter and ketchup? Next came the cackling laughs and the name calling from this group of students in front of me.

"Sorry about that, I was aiming for the trash," said a girl with red hair. "But I guess you'll do just fine haha"

I recognized that voice, it was Nancy Bobofit, the slimy witch from grade six. The one word I'd use to describe the she-devil that stood before me would be "fugly". I mean it disturbs me just describing her, but I'll forge on. Anyways, her face was covered in acne (picture a pizza), paler than a ghost and when she smiled her teeth were as yellow as a lemon. But like a rotten lemon. Her friends beside her were just the same if not worse. I wiped my face and stared at them. This wasn't the first time she'd "accidently" dropped her lunch on me. Every single time I just shut my mouth and kept cleaning. I was two years older than her and should have been more mature about this, I told myself. But today she needed to be taught a lesson in manners.

"If you wanted to dispose of your sandwich in the garbage," I said casually. "You should have kept eating it."

They were all stunned, mouths open and some were even giggling at Nancy. Here was this kid who cleaned toilets and washed the floors every lunch, who kept to himself, had just decided to light the queen bully up. Nancy just stood there and stared coldly back at me.

"Whatever," she said as she stormed off with her entourage.

I was feeling good. That was something I had never done, standing up to a bully, a punk, someone who tried putting me down. I was becoming the person I always wanted to be. That wouldn't be the last I'd see of her though. I headed up to the dorm room levels to finish cleaning. I brought my mop and bucket and away I went.

Since I was on the dorm level it was imperative that I placed a caution sign showing students the slippery floors. As I mopped around the hallway corner, I saw a group of kids pushing and shoving these two other guys. One of the two kids was quivering against the lockers with tears in his eyes. He was scrawny, pimple faced, red haired and looked like he was a few years older than I was do to the fact that he had a small goatee. But the other kid was the bravest person I've ever seen, he was fighting off three other students, which they happened to look fourteen (same as me). This kid was taking shots left and right but he wouldn't go down. He had long black hair that went to the bottom of his neck and he only looked like around eleven or twelve years old. What am I doing, I thought to myself, these guys need help. Never again will I just stand by and watch while people get hurt. I looked at the bucket of water I had beside me, then noticed the yellow caution sign I'd put down.

"Oh this'll be good," I said under my breath while smirking.

I grabbed the bucket of water and poured all of it on the floor and used my mop to start spreading it out. I looked up to check on them. The dark haired one was on the floor getting stomped on. I completely lost my shit, my hands were clenched so tightly I thought my knuckles were going to burst through my skin. It was happening again, my blood was glowing. I didn't care though, all I cared about was defending those kids. I picked up the mop, took a couple steps back and launched it like a javelin or something. The distance from where I was standing to them was fifty feet at least. I only meant to throw it near the three bullies to get their attention, but the mop sailed through the air and slammed into one of the kids. It hit him square in the face and knocked him to the ground. How the hell did I do that? His two buddies stopped beating on the dark haired kid, looked at their friend and slowly turned towards me with anger on their faces. The one I had just laid out got up very slowly and looked straight at me.

"What's a matter gentlemen?" I shouted down the hallway. "Can't recruit enough back-up dancers for your new boy band!"

"You're dead punk!" One of them shouted back. They all sprinted down the hallway towards me. Twenty feet, fifth-teen feet, ten feet and that's when the gong show began. All three bullies slipped on their asses, slid right past me and slammed into the wall. All three were knocked unconscious. I should have gotten that on film and sent it in to America's funniest videos.

I looked back to see if those guys were okay, when I did, the one with the jet black hair was staring back at me with his sea-green eyes. He slowly nodded at me, his expression full of appreciation. I raised my hand to my head and gave them both a sharp salute and a wink. The scrawny one pulled him away in a hurry around the nearest corner. I heard voices of teachers closing in, so I propped up the yellow sign and went on my merry way. Whistling as I turned the corner.

I got back to my five star Hampton suite (basically a closet with a bed) and checked my schedule for tomorrow. I ran my thumb over the date. It read "Special Event" field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Great, all these kids boxed into a closed space with no garbage cans. I hate field trips.


	4. Chapter 4

CH. 4 Come on man, I showered like five times today!

The only thing worse than having to clean up everyone's garbage was having Nancy Bobofit throw skittles at your face during the bus ride. Which she was and believe me I wasn't "tasting the rainbow". Almost every kid on that bus was either shouting, stomping, farting or fighting except for the daring duo I helped out in the hallway yesterday. These two kept to themselves. I dodged a flying skittle and decided to introduce myself.

"Be honest with me guys," I said sarcastically as I sat on the seat parallel to them. "On a scale of one to ten, how fun would it be to sing the wheels on the bus again for the seventh time?"

"Negative three," Said the one with the black hair. He raised his head from the seat in front of him to look at me and was surprised when he did. "Grover wake up!"

The red haired one flinched when his friend touched him on the shoulder. He squinted, plugged his nostrils and his eyes widened.

"Is that the janitor?"

"Please, assistant janitor if you may," I replied smirking as I shook both their hands. "I haven't earned that prestigious title yet"

They both had clearly recognized me from the hallway skirmish and apparently Grover thought I smelt bad. Ever since I got off that train, I've been showering whenever and wherever possible. How could he think I smell bad!?

"I'm Percy Jackson, and this here is my friend Grover," Said Percy. "I didn't catch your name."

"Oh sorry, I'm Lan…" I hesitated and thought of the voices from my dream. "Hecter. I'm Hecter."

It was a bit awkward that I obviously wasn't going to say Hecter and they both knew it. I just had to say Hecter though, it just resonated with me. I started scratching my head and lowered my eyes to the floor. But saving me from further embarrassing silence, Percy jumped in.

"Grover and I had them you know."

I looked up, puzzled. "What?"

"Those terds from school," He said smiling. "We had them right where we wanted them, right Grover?"

"Ya, sure we did," Said Grover giggling. We all started laughing.

Percy started telling me of how he lives in an apart building with his mom in Upper East Side, Manhattan. He also told me he got kicked out of every single school he's ever been in. Badass. He was just about to ask me my back story, but the bus started to slow down. I looked outside and we were back in the city. We stopped in front of the museum and Mr. Brunner spun on his motorized wheelchair to face everyone. This guy was by far one of the coolest teachers at Yancy. Every time I passed his class I would pretend to clean the floor and listen to him. He was the Latin teacher so he had games where he'd dress up like a roman centurion and challenge the students to write down roman and greek heroes. Back home in Canada, he'd be labeled as "a first class beauty". That basically meant a real top notch awesome human being. But he wasn't all about games, he's a very knowledgeable guy and he knows his stuff. The man had a sort of old school persona to him.

"Alright students, prepare for glory," He said with enthusiasm. "And also a pop quiz at lunch."

He was lowered off the bus on the handicap ramp and the students started to follow him off the bus. The museum was something I've never seen before. Long stone steps led up to these giant marble columns and the front of the roof had images of these fancy people in gowns and laurels.

I looked back at Percy and Grover and just caught Nancy Bobofit hit the back of Grover's head with one of her disgusting sandwiches. Percy almost flipped out, but Grover calmed him down and I heard him mention something about Percy and his parole.

I stood up and patted Percy on the back. "It would be best for you to just ignore her, man."

"She won't stop annoying us," he said with such frustration. "If she doesn't stop, I'm goin-"

"YOU shouldn't do anything, you're already in hot water. But…(I pointed my thumbs at myself) this guy has no strings. Watch this."

I went to where Nancy was seating and grabbed a handful of her skittles that she still had in her bag. I used the emergency exit door at the back of the bus and ran around to where the remaining students were exiting. I waited until Nancy was at the top of the stairs, then I sprinkled the candy as nonchalantly as I could. Placed my hands in the pockets of my coveralls, took five steps back and gave Percy and Grover (who were watching through the window) a big thumbs up. She stepped down the steps and two foot hopped the last one onto the pavement. As soon as she hit the ground, her legs went up in the air and she landed on her bottom. There was an uproar of laughter from everyone in the class, as I expected.

Percy and Grover were laughing hysterically, like the gut clenching laughing. Percy's face suddenly went blank and same with Grover. I shrugged my shoulders not knowing what was happening. Whatever, I got to start cleaning up the bus, I thought, so I turned around towards the back of the bus. As I pivoted around, the second teacher attending the field trip Ms. Dodds, was an inch away from my face staring me down. I've never been this close to a teacher and it was creeping me out. But what was really freaky was that I smelt sulfur on her breath. She looked me over, then she smelt me. She scowled and walked away. I'm going to lose my mind, I SHOWER multiple times a day. How do I smell bad!?

After I cleaned the bus, it was around noon and everyone was eating their lunches. I went up to Mr. Brunner to give my report.

"Finished with the bus, sir."

"Thank you my boy," He said while lifting his head from his newspaper and then doing a double take. "You look familiar, have we met before?"

"No, sir, this is the first time we've spoken"

He studied my face with such curiosity for what seemed like forever. Finally he replied, "My deepest apologies, I must be thinking of someone else." He went back to intensely reading his newspaper.

"No problem, Mr. B." I said slowly walking away.

"Oh, and Hecter, try wearing some cologne son. You smell terrible."

I tried putting on very best smile and slowly walked away. I was so confused. How did he know my name? And was it the body wash I was using, was it because I'm was always in the washrooms or was is it just my B.O? I shower like five times a day. Maybe I should take Brunner's advice with the cologne, but instead just drink it. Will that help!? I saw my new friends over by a fountain and make my way over.

"How did you guys make out in there?" I said while sitting next to them.

"It was nice and all, but the whole time I was just craving something to eat." Said Grover, lips watering.

"You can have my home made enchiladas, I'm not hungry anyways."

His eyes lit up like the fourth of July. "Uh..gee….thank you so much!"

I grabbed them out of my bag and handed them to him. He looked so astonished like they were drops of water in the middle of the Sahara. In mere seconds they were gone. Percy was a little quiet though, it looked like something was on his mind.

"What are ya thinking bout tough guy? Maybe joining the WWE cause the way I saw you fight against those three meat heads, you should consider it." I said smiling as I nudged his elbow.

A smile crept across his face. "It's just my Latin teacher Mr. Brunner, sometimes he pushes me too much and I don't get that good of grades as it is. Lots of pressure."

"Ya, I just met the guy and he can be little harsh. Besides, I'm sure the Canadian curriculum for Latin isn't that different from here. If you ever need a study buddy, I got your back."

"Thanks man," He said. "Wait, you're Canadian?"

And that was my cue to exit the conversation. "Ha! Did I say Canadian? I meant Californian, um I gotta use the washroom."

I scampered up the stone steps, passed the columns and into the museum. I got to be more careful about what I say around these guys. I mean I think they're pretty cool kids, but being an illegal immigrant is pretty serious. I just have to get to know them better.

I explored the museum for little while until I actually had to take a leak. I found a washroom beside the empty Greek and Roman section. After I had done the deed, I was at the sink washing my hands. I heard voices outside, this wasn't surprising, it's a museum there's going to be people. But one of the voices were starting to get louder and it strangely sounded like Ms. Dodds.

I peered out the door and saw Percy frozen still in front of what sounded like Dodds, but sure as shit was not her. It looked like a giant bat with claws and fangs. JESUS! Is that Mr. B? I am tripping balls. He dug what looked like a ball point pen out of his pocket and threw it at Percy, shouting "What ho, Percy!". The bat lady attacked, but Percy dodged with cat like reflexes and caught the pen. But just if things weren't weird enough, the pen shot out into a bronze sword. He looked as surprised as I was. I wanted to help my new friend out so badly, but I was scared to core. My brain wasn't registering what was happening. She went at him again, but this time he swung and she exploded into yellow dust. The smell of sulfur filled the air. Sulfur? I smelt that on Ms. Dodds breath too. My brain could not handle anymore, my eyes got heavy and I lost control in my knees. I hit the floor and blacked out.


	5. Chapter 5

CH. 5 I guess it's just you and me pal

My eyes shot open and I analyzed my surroundings. Smelly museum bathroom. Good, I haven't been abducted or something. I slowly get to my feet and risk a peek out the door. The coast was clear. That's weird, where's Percy and Mr. B? A suspicious thought crept up the back of my mind, what if while I was washing my hands, I'd slipped and hit my head on the ground. Thus knocking me out and causing a really weird dream about my friend Percy destroying bat woman while Mr. Brunner gave him the weapon to do it. Ya, that's probably what happened. My dreams are getting weirder. I left the museum and returned to the bus with everyone else.

As I was walking down the steps I noticed Percy having a conversation with Mr. B and I decided to let them know I was okay. Approaching them I heard Brunner say "Percy, there is no Ms. Dodds on the trip." A million things rushed into my head. Why did Mr. B say that, Ms. Dodds was the second chaperone teacher? Why was he denying that from Percy? Where is Ms. Dodds?

Things weren't right. I asked some other kids if Ms. Dodds had gone back to Yancy, they just looked at me and laughed. Okay. That was some Children of The Corn shit right there, I thought. Something weird was happening and I didn't like it. The entire bus ride back I pretended to sleep so that nobody would bother me with anymore weirdness.

We returned to Yancy, but that wasn't the end of my paranoia. I didn't talk to anyone for the rest of the school year, including Percy and Grover. For the longest time, I thought the reason why everyone was denying Ms. Dodds was because they were in on some illegal immigration reality t.v. show where they filmed the cases of criminals like moi. Sort of like "Cops". But Percy was the one guy who looked worse than I did, I guess he didn't get the memo.

On the night before finals, I had just finished my rounds and gotten back to my room on the main floor. I should hit the hay, I thought. I flicked the switch and the room went dark. It was around ten at night when I heard a loud THUD! Like a book hitting the ground. I got to my feet and saw shadows dancing across the light that was entering under my door. I kept the lights off and waited. I saw the door knob twist and some dude quickly backs into my room. Just as he was closing the door, I heard a strange noise outside like the clopping of hooves. I instinctively put him in a choke hold and placed my hand over his mouth. A large shadow loomed in front of my door, seconds slowly passed and finally a conversation was shared between what sounded like Mr.B and Grover. They left and the only sound I could hear was the heavy breathing of the intruder. I looked back at this kid and noticed he had black hair, the room was dark, but I also saw a faint green in his eyes.

"Percy?" I whispered.

He slowly nodded and I released him from my hold.

"Hecter, where are we?" Said Percy.

I flicked the light on and replied, "This is my palace, mi casa su casa."

Percy looked pale as a ghost, he looked like he just got the news that a giant asteroid was headed for earth. "You alright man, you like look Casper the ghost."

He grabbed my shirt and pulled me close within a couple inches from his face. Staring with all seriousness into my eyes he whispered, "On that last field trip, do you remember the name of the second teacher who went with us?"

I knew exactly what the name was, but the way he asked the question sounded like he knew as well. I thought about all those kids I'd asked about Dodds, how they laughed and snickered at me. But Percy was different, he was the only person who asked about that day.

"We'll say it together on three." I said after thinking about it. He looked suspicious, but he started counting down and I joined in.

"Three, two, one, MS. DODDS!" We stood there in silence. Both of us were shocked and slowly started backing away from each other. Percy opened the door and hurried down the hallway back to his dorm. I couldn't follow him, my knees were weak, my head was throbbing and I was speechless. I hadn't heard someone else say her name in forever. I had so many questions. What the hell had been outside five minutes ago and had Percy known that name since the field trip. Does that mean my "dream" wasn't a dream after all and I actually did see bat woman get sliced to dust by Percy? Oh god, I can't imagine what that guy has gone through. I'm going to figure out what's really going on, right after I have a little power nap… five minutes…tops. I rested my head on the pillow and it was lights for me.

It wasn't a power nap. I woke up in the morning to the sound of lockers slamming together. I looked outside and there were so many scattered papers on the ground with students sprinting in all directions. If I was the lead janitor here I would start pouring gasoline everywhere, light a match and burn this place to the ground. But I decided to do something better. I packed some supplies, extra clothes and headed towards Percy and Grover's place. Walking out of their dorm is where I caught them. Time for some Sherlock Holmes investigating. I tailed them to a grey hound bus and when the driver hopped out for a smoke, I snuck on. The first seat I saw I took and I didn't even look up to check where they were. The risk was too high to be seen, so I used the driver's rear view mirror and at the back of the bus sat my two amigos. They seemed to be having an intense conversation because Grover was sweating up a storm and Percy was really pushing him about something. The bus driver got back in and away we went, to where, I had no idea.

We arrived in New York once again. It was a pretty smooth ride, besides the fact that Percy got in a staring contest with three old ladies after our bus broke down. Never the less, we made it! Everybody poured out the bus doors and I blended in with a group of tourists. I glanced over my shoulder to see Percy and Grover. Alright! Now, I need to get to the bottom of this fiasco. Just as I took my first step towards them, Grover bolted off into the nearest washroom. Percy stood there a couple of seconds and rushed into a cab before I could get to him.

"Come on!" I shouted in the middle of the crowd. I come all this way just to have my friends disappear in opposite directions and none of my questions answered. Sherlock is laughing in his grave right now.

I was deciding on whether to get one of those delicious chili cheese dogs, when Grover came limping out of the washrooms with his crutches. The look on his face when he didn't see Percy was frightening to say the least. But let me tell you, his next expression was so much funnier when I went up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"I guess it's just yo-," I started to say.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence Hecter."


	6. Chapter 6

Ch. 6 I fight dirty

"I'm freaking out Hecter, we need to find Percy!" Grover said while sweating profusely.

"Grover calm down, I saw him hop in a cab," I said. "He probably just went home."

"We have to find him," He said under his breath. "Sixth grade…everytime."

Grover wasn't telling me something and his tone was making me uneasy. As I searched into his eyes, all I saw was fear, he was afraid of something. I stood there, my mind went blank and my body was still. I've never seen that kind of terror in anyone's eyes before. I put my hand on Grover's shoulder while looking him in the eyes.

"Is Percy in trouble?" I asked. He broke his gaze with me and his eyes drifted to the concrete. He slowly nodded and a single tear ran down his cheek.

"We need to find him and bring him to Camp." Grover said as he lifted his head and looked me straight in the eye. He spun around and started walking towards the Brooklyn Bridge.

I didn't want to ask about this so called 'Camp' because it looked like the poor guy was about to have an emotional break down. But this got me so confused and intrigued all at the same time. I caught up to him and off we went into the city.

It was nice being back in the city. I arched my head upwards at these giant celestial towers, millions of glass windows reflected beams of sunlight all around me. Hundreds of American flags waved in the steady breeze high above me. All of this made me feel so small, but deep down It made me feel like I could amount to greater heights. Higher than the sky scrapers that were towering over me. Higher than the clouds that loomed over them. I had this feeling that New York City was just the best place to be.

Grover and I were making our way down First Avenue when we heard a snarling growl come from beside us. Something wrapped around Grover's arm and yanked him into the dark alley. "Grover!" I yelled, running after him. I turned the corner and some sort of large animal was dragging him deeper and deeper into the alley. It finally reached a dead end and flung him into a pile of garbage cans. Two more of these animals flanked me. A single headlamp illuminated the creature and I my eyes widened. On all fours it stood six feet tall. It was much larger than the others, I think it must have been the alpha. This beast had the torso of a lion, a goat on its back and a snake for a tail.

"We've been hunting this one for many years haven't we brothers," The beast growled. Wait. Did this thing just speak? The other two let out a couple of cackled laughs. "After we feasted on your parents' flesh, you were meant to be dessert."

What Ugly was saying made no sense to me what so ever. My parents were fine when I left them back in Canada and I've only just recently seen these creatures once before. My mind was trying to connect the dots, but nothing sounded familiar. My body, on the other hand, was a whole other story. I felt my heart beat rising, I was breathing quickly out my nose. Adrenaline was rushing threw my veins. Anger was building up in my soul. I felt like a bomb, just ticking away until detonation. The alpha veered his gaze from me to Grover. It sniffed the air and licked its lips.

"Haven't had goat in a while, he'll make a fine appetizer." It said while closing in on Grover.

Tick…Tick…BOOM!

My body took control and all I was thinking was how big of a mistake this piece of shit just made. He's not gonna lay a single claw on Grover, because I'm going to rip them all off one by one. I'll make sure of that. I sprang into action, sprinting towards the pile of garbage Grover was in. Mid run, I quickly grabbed anything I could use as a weapon or a defence. With my left hand I grabbed a tin garbage can lid. With my right, I grabbed a tall cylindrical lamp (probably aluminum) that had a jagged bulb at the top and had no base to it. I jumped over my friend's head like a madman and one-foot plant jumped off the brick wall with incredible speed towards the alpha. Spinning midair, I brought my arm out with the tin lid on my back hand and connected perfectly with the creature's face. I'd stricken it with such force, a single tooth went flying into the air. I stood up in awe of what I'd just done, how did I do that? I was so amazed and scared that I barely heard the monstrous howl of the alpha.

"I'm going to tear you limb from limb!" Roared the beast. He then looked at the other two and snarled. "He's mine!"

I went into autopilot again. I raised the tin lid at eye level and the lamp held level with the lid. We were facing each other and slowly rotating in a circle. I made the first move and thrusted the lamp towards my opponent's face, but it batted the weapon away like it was a toothpick. A frontal assault wasn't affective, so I analyzed for any weaknesses I could find. Analyzing my opponent? Why was I thinking this?

My combat brain had found a way to defeat this beast. I couldn't flank it without that snake head so I needed to take it out and progress from there. To pull off what I was thinking of doing I needed a distraction. I looked around and saw a rotting banana peel, perfect. I picked it up and slung it at the monster's eyes blinding it. At full speed I slid underneath it and grabbed the tail, using the trash can lid I bashed the snake's head until it stopped moving. The trash can lid had split right down the middle from the force of smashing the snake's skull. Two sharp edges remained on the semi-circle lid. Using this new weapon, I launched it at the goat on its back. It skewered the goat's throat. I'd gotten rid of two problems, but my small victory came with a cost. The alpha rear kicked me straight in the chest and I went flying into the brick wall. To my right, Grover looked surprised as I was. But he also looked scared as hell. Motivation kicked in hard. I didn't care what happened to me at the time, but I knew for a fact that I would use every molecule in my body to protect Grover.

The alpha bounded towards me. Combat brain did one last calculation, its weight, you gotta use it against itself . And so I wedged the lamp at the base of the wall and propped it facing the alpha. The beast couldn't slow down at the pace it was going, so the lamp pierced threw its chest and out its back. The corpse slid down the lamp inches away from my face. POOF! The creature exploded into golden dust as if it were a piñata at a quincenera. I scanned the alley and the two other creature were gone.

"How is this possible," Said Grover after a few seconds of silence. "How did I not sense you?"


	7. Chapter 7

Ch. 7 I always did like camaros

Grover looked at me like I was a magical unicorn from space. I mean who could blame him, we both saw three giant freaky mutant Mufasas' (Lion King reference).  
I gave him a hand out of the garbage pile and brushed him off.

"I don't know what you were sensing, bud, but I sense I kicked some ass!" Smiling as I said trying to get a laugh from the abnormal situation we were just in. But Grover was Stone Cold Steve Austin, he still had that shocking expression on his face. As if he had a stroke. It took him a few seconds, but he snapped out of it.

"You should most definitely come to camp with Percy and I. There's beach volleyball!" He said while practically tearing off my arm wanting me to follow. "We gotta find Percy first, though."

"Sure, sounds fun," We both started walking out of the alley. "But you did see what happened back there right?"

"Yup" He said with a gulp.

"Care to share your thoughts, feelings or theories about it?"

"No time to explain, you'll have to wait until we get to camp." Classic mysterious/nervous Grover response. Should of seen that coming.

We finally arrived at Percy's apartment in Upper East side, the sun was starting to set and we were beat. We dialed in the room number for the Ugliano and Jackson residence. After a long ring, a loud raspy voice blurted out of the microphone, "Look, I don't want your god damn girl scout cookies! I'm not eating that garbage!". Wow, I'm getting the impression that this guy makes at least one girl scout cry a day. Classy.

Grover held the button and responded, "Uh, hi Mr. Ugliano, is Percy there?"

"He ain't here! He left for Montauk with his dim-witted mother about an hour ago. The little shit took my camaro too."

"Thank you, Mr. Ugliano, have a pleasant day."

"Ya, whatever."

Grover turned around and collapsed on the stairs. He buried his head in his hands and started to cry. The guy looked defeated, I could tell he really cared for his friend. I didn't laugh at him or tease him. I didn't make a funny joke to cheer him up. I just sat down beside him and put my hand on his shoulder.

"We'll find him, buddy" I said.

It took us two hours and the rest of my money to get to Montauk's cabins. The whole cab ride there, Grover was tapping his feet against the ground like a jack rabbit.  
He'd turned insane from worrying about Percy. He had this crazy determination look in his eye, it was kind of freaking me out, but I just let him do his thing. We got out of the cab and were almost instantly greeted with the sound of thunder. Heavy winds started ripping through the air, trees were howling and rain drops the size of gum balls were pouring all around us.

In the middle of this hurricane type storm, I should have been scared shitless, but I was at peace. I can't explain why. I was relaxed, but my senses heightened as well.  
My eyes could see individual raindrops as they hit the dirt. I could still hear the cab that was ten minutes down the road. I felt the water in between the slits of my fingerprints.

These next couple of hours are where everything went upside down. Grover and I were walking through the woods towards the cabins on beach. During this lovely stroll, we heard a loud crack and this giant evergreen tree fell right in front us.

"Bet you that was a beaver," I said. "This happens all the time in Canada."

Spoiler alert, I lost the bet, it wasn't a beaver. Picture Ronnie Coleman (Bodybuilder), then replace his head with a bull's and make him super hairy from the belly button up.  
That's what was standing fifteen feet in front of us. This guy made that creature from the alley look like Hello Kitty. This Bull-Man was the most disturbing thing I've ever seen.

"Run Hecter!" Shouted Grover.

If he thinks I'm just going to start running, while he tries to hobble away on those crutches, he's lost his damn mind. But I guess he had lost his mind because he kicked off his shoes, threw his crutches on the ground and started tearing off his pants. Strangely, where there should have been a pasty white ass, Grover was packing a hairy rump with a tail. And hooves for feet? Okay, this is now the most disturbing thing I've ever seen. In a blink of an eye, Grover took off running into the woods with the speed of an Olympic sprinter.

"Come on!" He said over his shoulder.

I ran after him like my life depended on it, which it did. Behind me I heard a loud "Raaaar!" I risked a look and saw that the Bull-Man was having a hard time following us. Since Grover and I were running through such a dense area of trees, Bull-Man was having a hard time getting through.

We kept running until we finally ran on to the beach head, Percy's cabin was just to our left. The storm was at it's peak now. Ten foot waves crashed on the shore, thunder bellowed in the skies and rained soaked the sand. Grover and I both started screaming for Percy. We got to the door and Grover pounded on it as hard as he could.  
I stood on the porch to keep a look out, scanning the tree line. A woman in a night gown opened the door, which was probably Percy's mom, and Grover stepped in.  
Grover briefed them on the situation we had on our hands. It looked like Percy's mom had a few questions for him as well. Percy said something and his mother's face went pale. She grabbed her purse and ran outside.

"Get in the car boys." She said. We all piled into this beautiful 78' camaro. I took shotgun while Percy and Grover went in the back seat. A bellowing noise rattled the car, but it wasn't thunder or lightning. I turned around and my eyes met Grover's. We both knew what was out there.

"What was that?" Percy said.

"You don't wanna know." I replied.

Percy's mom noticed me sitting beside her.

"Sorry to ask, but who are you?" She asked me. Before I could reply, Percy spoke up from the back.

"Mom, this is Hecter, we met him at Nancy. He's our friend."

When Percy said the word friend, it started to resonate with me. All those years of fake smiles and fake laughs with kids I was just trying to impress. Doing awful things to others just to fit in with the "cool crowd", it made me sick thinking about it. These two guys were the only two true friends I've ever had. I looked back at Percy smiling and nodded. At first, we were both hesitant with each other, but that all melted away when he called me his friend.

"He's special like Percy." Grover chimed in.

"Please to meet you Hecter, I'm Sally, Percy's mother." Sally said while turning the key to ignition and then flooring it.

My eyes wondered out the passenger's side window and up towards the pitch black sky. Thunder roared and a single bolt of lightning stretched across the sky. The flash was so powerful and bright, it blinded me. I put my hands up to shield my eyes from the light. But when I lowered them, I was somewhere else entirely.

A woman was staring at me. She was beautiful like an angel, she had silky blond hair with a french braid that hung over her shoulder. She had a loving smile that made me feel warm and all mushy. Her eyes were a dark blue like the color in between storm clouds and the ocean off in the distance. They looked kind, but stern and intense. She looked like she was in her thirties. I could tell by her smooth white skin, it was starting to wrinkle beside her eyes. She was wearing a type of leather body armor with a black long sleeve underneath, blue jeans and ankle high hiking boots.

A faintly olive colored hand grabbed her shoulder and a tall, broad-shouldered man stepped out from behind her. He loomed over me. He was twice my size but I wasn't scared, I felt safe with him around. He had short cropped brown hair that matched his wild muddy brown eyes. He was built like a linebacker and his facial features were strong and smooth like a marble statue. He was around the same age and had the same leather arm but bigger. I had no idea who they were, but the feeling of being around them was very familiar. All I wanted to do was stand there with them forever, but nothing lasts forever.

The image faded away and I woke up with somebody shaking me. Everything was blurry at first, but I regained focus and saw that I was back in the camaro. Except that the roof had split open. What a shame, such a sweet looking car. Sally was shaking me violently. I looked behind me and saw Grover knocked out and Percy dragging him out the car door.

"What the hell happened?" I said with a confused look on my face.

"You passed out while we were driving." Sally responded with relief, noticing I wasn't injured. "A couple miles after you went under, lightning hit us and we swerved into this ditch."

"Mom, look!" Percy said pointing behind us. It was the beast with the bull's head. That thing hunted us all the way from the cabin?

"Hecter, help us with Grover" Percy shouted at me over noise of the thunder. Him and Sally were supporting an arm each. Blood was coming from Grover's mouth, he wasn't looking too good. Percy looked like he may have had a concussion and his mom had a limp in her walk.

I hopped the hood of the car and ran towards them. Grabbing Grover's hairy legs, I pulled them up on both sides of my hips and we started to climb this hill. Sally was trying to convince Percy to go on without her, but that wasn't an option for him. He refused to leave her behind. There was a giant Pine tree just at the top of the hill, I guess that's where we were headed. Behind us, an explosion rattled my ears. I turned to see that the Bull-man had apparently thrown Gabe's camaro fifty feet away and the gas tank lit up on impact.

We were almost at the top, but the horned beast was now right behind us. We set Grover down in the wet grass. Sally gestured to me to keep pulling Grover to higher ground. While I was doing that, she stopped and talked to Percy. When I reached the top, I set Grover down and looked back. Percy was taking on this behemoth by himself. I started back down the hill. It charged him, but he rolled to the side at the last second and it barreled past him. Smart kid. Percy found it's weakness, it can only go straight when charging. He looked like he had it under control, but Sally was slower than a snail in molasses due to that limp. She needed help. I ran to her side and glanced back at the fight. The Bull-man was gearing up for another charge, but this time it was aimed right at Sally and I. It cleared the distance between us in seconds. I knew I could have easily dodged it's charge, but Sally was right behind me and she was in rough shape. I made a split second decision. I shoved Sally out of the way, a second later, the beast's right horn pierced through the skin bellow my right shoulder. I felt it go right out the other side. The pain was indescribable. I was tossed around like a human rag doll, until it finally flung me off it's horn. I didn't even feel the crash landing, my body felt numb. I ended up on my back looking up at the storm. Rain splashed against my face, my eyes felt very heavy. They slowly fluttered shut. The last thing I heard was Percy screaming my name.


	8. Chapter 8

Ch 8 Never again

Everything was dark and deathly quiet. Am I dead? An eternity of darkness and silence...this is bullshit. Suddenly, I felt a quick sensation on the tip of my right pinky finger. It was cold and wet. Water? My finger was slowly dragging along the surface. Was I floating? Okay, I'm not dead, its just another freaky dream. My cheek felt warm. It was a nice feeling, as if someone's hand was pressed against it. But the warmth on my cheek grew hotter and hotter. To my right, a small fire illuminated what looked like a mountain side. The flames jumped from tree to tree, consuming anything and everything. Within seconds the whole mountain side was covered in flames. I was floating in what I presumed to be a river, but I could still feel the heat. It got so hot I tried splashing water on my face, but my arms weren't working. I felt my face blistering, my skin was literally bubbling. The pain was too much. I let out vicious scream.

My eyes shot open and I sat straight up. I was mid scream, I guess the pain was so realistic that it woke me from my dream. I scanned my surroundings. I was laying in a soft bed and blankets wrapped around my waist. I was drenched with sweat. A sharp pain shot up from my shoulder. I winced and saw that my right shoulder was covered in bandages. Someone began to speak over my left shoulder.

"You alright, Hector?" Said the voice. This caught me so off guard. My reflexes kicked in, I barrel rolled out of bed and the clenched the throat of the mystery speaker with my fist up ready to strike.

I saw a familiar face and immediately let go. "Grover?"

"You okay?"

"Ya...ya, I'm good. Sorry for grabbing you like that. I was in the middle of a horrible dream..."

"And I guess I didn't help things by surprising you." He slightly dipped his head. "I don't help at all."

I was about to say something to boost his spirits, but outside this house I heard footsteps. The door swung open and Percy stormed in.

"Hector!" He shouted with glee. "You're okay!"

"Good to see ya, bud." I said casually. But deep down, it was really nice to see both my friends alive after the fight. "I'm guessing you made a mess of that big bull guy, eh?  
I knew you it! So where's Sally?" I asked while checking outside through the windows.

A cold silence hung over the room.

I looked back at Percy and his head was down. I walked up to him and asked again with more concern in my voice.

"Where is she?

His eyes got cloudy and his voice almost broke. "She's gone."

My hands started to shake and my mouth went dry. I made a promise to myself that I would never stand by and let somebody get hurt ever again. Well I did, I LET SALLY DIE! I started to think of what I could have done differently to save her. I ran scenario after scenario in my head, but I kept coming to a single conclusion. I failed.

I backed up with a look of horror on my face and looked at my friends.

"I...I gotta..."

I didn't even finish that sentence, I couldn't. I was breaking down, my head pounded with frustration and anger. My heart was filled with sadness and regret. I stumbled out the door, (ignoring the pleas from my friends to comeback) I felt the pain in my shoulder again. But it wasn't even close to the pain I felt in my heart. I let my friend's mother die. My eyes turned blood shot and the more I thought about her, the more my anger grew. I went into a rage. I ran up a nearby hill, letting out quick shouts. I got to the top saw a giant Pine tree. I realized this is where I last saw her. I dropped to my knees and let out the most longest and loudest blood thirsty, heart-broken, anger fueled scream that ever came out of my lungs.

I dropped my head and started to sob. I cried and cried, I was emotionally shattered. I felt the weight of someone's hand on my shoulder. I turned my head slightly and saw that it was Grover. His eyes were red from crying. He didn't say a word. Another hand pressed against the opposite shoulder. I turned and saw Percy looking at me with foggy eyes.

"Don't beat yourself up Hector," He said sincerely. "You did all you could...and I thank you with all my heart that you tried to save her."

I wept silently as my friends stood by to try and comfort me.

I finally stood up and regained my composure. "Thanks boys." I said as a patted both their arms.

As I turned around, I got my first look at where I was. I saw a big white house below the hill (that must have been the one I was staying in), strawberry fields were stretched throughout this beautiful valley in front of me with the ocean in the distance. There were also twelve oddly designed cabins shaped in a U formation. While I was looking at the scenery, a small crowd of people with orange shirts had formed at the bottom of the hill. I wonder how long they'd been there for.

A short tubby man with long curly black hair and a tiger-patterned Hawaiian shirt stepped out of the crowd and shouted up at us.

"Mr. Underwood, I must have a word with you!"

"Yes sir, right away sir!" Grover responded and gulped right after. "Oh boy, Mr. D looks angry. I better go, I'll see you guys later." He trotted away on his goat legs (I'll never get used to that).

After everyone dispersed, it was just Percy and I standing on the hill.

"Percy, there's something I've been holding back from you about my past." I said

"What is it?"

"Well first off, I'm Canadian."

"Ya, I kinda picked that up from the accent." He said with smirk on his face.

"Ya... and when I was up there, I wasn't the same person I am now." I said hesitantly. "I did a lot of bad things to good people...I was a cruel kid"

Percy took a step back. "Why?"

"I don't know. Every time I tried to get close to somebody, I fell into this trance that turned me into someone I wasn't. My personality changed. But one day, I felt the trance that was always looming over me just...fade away."

"Then what?" Said Percy, looking very confused at this point.

"I felt normal, I guess. Look, Percy, the reason I broke down like that was because I couldn't defend your mom." I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly and continued. "I carry the pain of everyone I hurt every second of everyday. Do you know what that feels like?...I knew what kind of person I was when I helped you and Grover at Yancy. I'm the guy who defends the defenseless and protects the weak. That's who I am! When I could't protect Sally, that shattered me.

Percy was silent, he studied me with his sea-green eyes to see if I was telling the truth.

I looked directly in his eyes. "I can't change what happened...But I can guarantee it won't happen again. I won't stand by and watch while someone is hurting. I will do so until my last breath."

We stood there, our eyes locked together. Percy broke the silence.

"My mom would have loved you," He said with a warm smile."Her death wasn't your fault."

I nodded in acceptance. "I'll catch up with you later, man. I just need to...uh" I faltered.

Percy patted me on the back. "Take all the time you need." He said.

He walked back down the hill towards the cabins. I sat down in the tall grass. A subtle breeze swirls through my fingers, thunder erupts from a far. I see storm clouds in the distance. They're dark as night, their mass and shape resembles the rocky mountains back home. It's like I was looking at Renaissance painting of heaven. I'm in complete awe. A kingdom in the sky. All they were were clouds, but I was oddly attracted to them. I just wanted to escape from all this, levitate towards the sky and get lost in the floating black mist.


	9. Chapter 9

CH. 9 Orientation

Walking back down the hill, I still felt miserable. I reached the bottom and headed towards the big white farm house. But when I raised my eyes to glance at it, I immediately did a double take. There was the back half of a horse sticking out from behind the house. Weird, what kind of camp lets horses roam wherever they please? I walked up behind the horse and patted it on it's back.

"Hey there boy, watcha doin?" I said with a slightly high pitched voice.

All at once, the horse quickly jolted backwards, revealing the front of it. But where there should have been a horse's head, I saw Mr. Brunner. The top half of him at least.

"I am trying to decide what to think of you, Mr. Hector." Said the Latin teacher calmly.

"WOAH!" I stepped back so quickly that I tripped on my own feet and landed on my ass. "What...how...wheel chair?"

"My dear boy, you've been out for days," He gestured towards the porch. "Sit and I'll explain everything."

Seeing Mr. Brunner in the shape he was in really freaked me out. I mean just looking at him made my head ring. From the waist down, the guy was a horse. A HORSE!  
He wasn't riding one, he WAS one. I began thinking of all the weird shit that's been happening to me ever since I jumped in that train. The beasts from the alley, Ms. Dodds from Yancy and the body builder with horn's. At the time, I was too busy to think of any of it, but now it was coming all at once.

I took a seat in this wooden swing set on the porch as Mr. B had instructed. My head was full of questions. To my right, on the wooden railing, was a tall glass of golden fluid. It looked like apple juice.

"Drink," Said Mr. B. "You're still injured."

"Mr. Brunner, please, where am..." I stopped myself due to the stern look he was giving me. I exhaled in submission and grabbed the glass. "Cheers"

Instead of apple juice, I tasted my favorite dessert. Cream puffs. What a pleasant surprise, liquid cream puff. I prefer the solid form, but nevertheless, delicious. It wasn't the only thing that was great, my shoulder felt ten times better. I downed the drink in seconds.

"Better?" He asked.

I nodded in approval. "Thanks"

"You must be wanting an explanation for all of the...abnormal experiences you've been having." He began. "Since you didn't attend my class, I'll have to give you a quick summary. For two millennia, this world has been ruled by twelve Greek Gods. The Olympians. And for two millennia they've been...uh... fornicating with mortals, thus creating Demi-gods." He placed his finger on my forehead. "Such as yourself, and this place is a safe haven for children like you. Camp Half-Blood. I am called by many names, but you may call me Chiron. I am the camp activities director. We train half-bloods to use whatever skills they may possess to survive."

"Like how to survive against a two-legged bull." I said sarcastically

"Precisely. The Minotaur is its name. I should also inform you that Ms. Dodds was indeed a monster known as a Harpy."

"I knew I wasn't crazy" I said with relief.

"Grover mentioned you ran into quite the formidable foes in the city."

"Ya, they looked like lions, but they had goats on their backs and snakes for tails."

"Chimeras," Chiron said in a low voice. He looked distraught. "These beasts are not common monsters, they don't hunt common demi-gods either."

He was giving me a deep inquisitive stare and was about to ask me something, but a voice called out behind us.

"Chiron!"

We both turned to see a tanned blonde haired girl run around the corner. She came to a halt in front of us.

"Sir, there's another archery accident." She said, as if it happened every day.

"Not again." He said with concern. "Undetermined, Annabeth. Would you care to escort young Hector to cabin eleven?"

"Yes sir." She replied

"We'll continue this chat another time," He said over his shoulder. "If you have any questions, just ask your fellow campers. You'll be up to speed in no time."

Chiron started galloping away and disappeared into the trees. I turned to face blondee, but when I came around she was gone. She'd been there just a second ago. Where the hell could she have gone?

"You smell awful." Came a voice out of nowhere which caused me to jolt backwards.

"You have no idea how many people have said that." I replied. "I doubt a lava bath would get rid of the smell."

The blonde girl materialized out of thin air in front of me. She was just in the middle of removing a Yankees baseball cap. Her stormy grey eyes studied me from head to toe.  
She looked slightly younger than me and seemed very athletic, but I had a feeling age wouldn't be a factor in a foot race between us.

"Follow me" She instructed."Oh, and I'm Annabeth, daughter of Athena"

"Hector, and I'm just happy to be here" I responded. I had no idea what to think of her. The way she looked at me, as if she was locating my weak point and she never turned her back towards me. Is she a friend or foe? I guess I'll find out.

We arrived at the twelve cabins shaped in a giant U that I'd seen previously. Annabeth stopped in front of an old dull brown cabin that was packed with kids. But they all stopped when they saw me, a tall guy with sandy blonde hair made his way to the front of the campers to greet us. He looked older and had a deep scar on his face.

"Another camper, two in one week." He said with a charming smile. "Where do you keep finding these guys Annabeth?

Surprisingly, she let out a quick giggle and started to blush. A minute ago, she was the heroine of battle and now she's Ms. Flirty. She must have caught my look of confusion because she straightened upright and hardened her expression.

"Um, right. Hector, this is Luke, cabin Councillor. Luke, this is Hector. He's undetermined." She announced. Right as she said that almost all the kids in the cabin groaned in disappointment and went back to whatever they were doing.

"Just Hector?" Luke asked. "That's it, no last name? So you're like Seal or Prince?"

He said that in a friendly tone, but that didn't stop some of the campers from laughing at me. I studied him. His expression appeared charming and genuine, but to me, his smile looked like the Cheshire cat's. Fake and sinister. His eyes seemed bright and enthusiastic, but I saw emptiness and resentment. I'm familiar with his face. Every time I met someone a little different or someone a little quiet back home. The trance took over and I acted friendly, but later join up with the other degenerates. I'd betray the trust and hurt these helpless kids, just to fit in. His face is familiar indeed. That was my face. I put on the same one for years. I didn't trust this guy.

"Yup, just Hector. Got a problem with that?" I asked with deadly seriousness.

His smile faded and he stood there silently. Everyone in the room went quiet again, waiting for his response. For a split second, I saw him scowl at me, but he quickly went back to that big charming smile.

"I'm only messing around with you, man." Luke finally replied and patted me on my shoulder. "Hector is cool with me."

After Annabeth left, I kept my distance from Luke and got to know some of my new cabin mates. Connor and Travis Stoll were the first guys I talked to. Great guys, but they managed to steal my shoes...while I was still wearing them. I will never know how they did that. After they gave them back, the Stoll brothers explained that this cabin is dedicated to Hermes, the God of messengers, Travelers and thieves. That explains how they got the shoes and why all these other kids were here. They told me that one of the Gods determine which cabin you belong to by claiming parenthood. I guess a lot of these kids haven't been claimed yet. Undetermined, they called it. It kind of seemed like some of the Gods didn't want to claim their kids. Shit, I don't know what I'm doing here. I got two parents back home and there is nothing godly about them. They're just two ordinary people, couple of average joes. I pondered that thought for awhile. Later, I found out that Percy was also undetermined and I had to see the guy. Apparently, he was scheduled for canoeing on the activities' rotation. Connor pointed me in the right direction and I left to see my friend.


	10. Chapter 10

Ch. 10 Crix Aldarik

"Show off!" I yelled at Percy just as he passed my canoe for the second time. I thought it would be fun to race Percy around the lake in our canoes, but he absolutely slaughtered me. The guy freaking double lapped me.  
We paddled our way back to shore, I expected to be ridiculed for losing badly. But instead, Percy gave me some much needed advice.

"Try placing the paddle at a steeper angle and take deeper strokes." Percy said while motioning with his hands.

A conch horn rang out from the valley. Percy gave me a wet willy and took off sprinting. He looked back over his shoulder laughing.

"Time for rookie challenges at the Arena!" He said. "Whoever comes last has to do bathroom chores for a week!"

"Alright Jackson," I said under my breath. "Hope you enjoy the smell of shower soap."

Don't get me wrong, Percy is very strong on the canoe. But when it comes to a plain sprint on land with me, I'll be the one doing the double lapping. What Percy didn't know was that, back home, I was a Rugby player. Now not too many people know about Rugby. Think of soccer and american football. All the running of soccer and all the contact of football. Except we don't wear any protective pads, its just Mano-a-mano. The reason I'm going to win this race is because I was the fastest Back (runner) on my team. Percy is going to make a great janitor.

I took off like the wind, trailing behind Percy. The kid was maybe twenty paces ahead of me with a five second head start at least. I'm going to have to make up for that lost time. We ran past the edge of the forest and into open field. To be honest, I thought I'd be caught up to him by now. I guess he's faster then he looks. In the distance I could see this building with Greek architecture, it looked like a bite sized Colosseum. Must be the Arena. Just before the structure, a creek split right down the middle of the field. It looked like a few meters wide and seemed waist deep. To our left was a wooden bridge that crossed the creek.

Percy veered towards it, here was my chance to gain the lead. I put all my energy into my legs, planted my foot at the edge of the creek and sprang into the air. I landed on the other side, rolling into a sprint flawlessly. It was a matter of seconds before I reached the Arena.

"Wooooooooh!" I shouted as I two-hand touched the Arena's wall. I looked back to see Percy jogging his last few steps. "Now we're even."

"How...did you...do that?" He said while panting, a look of disbelief across his face.

"Luck, I guess."

We made our way through the stone arches of the Arena. On the other side, we emerged into a large sand covered pit that was encircled with meter high stone walls and wooden bench rows behind them. There wasn't any ceiling, just sky. The smell of sweat hung in the air and the sound of steel clashing against steel echoed up towards the heavens. There were maybe twenty kids in full Greek armor all sparring with each other and a few watching in the stands.

"FRESH MEAT!"

In the middle of all the chaos, everyone was silenced and this beast of a guy walked towards Percy and I. He stood at about 6'3, had slicked back long blonde hair in a mohawk cornrow style with the sides of his head shaved and had deadly dark brown eyes. The kid was jacked too, his arms looked like tree trunks and his torso was twice the size of mine. The sun was shining off the bronze chest plate he was wearing which was also super intimidating. He looked like a warrior straight out of the ancient times. This goliath walked right up to me and put his face real close to mine.

"I'm gonna enjoy beating you into ground beef." He announced.

I winced from the smell of his breath and let out a small chuckle. "Maybe you should spend less time curling weights and more time brushing your teeth." Several campers bursted out laughing. The big guy had veins popping out out of his forehead, I guess I made him a little bit angry.

"Clear the pit!" He ordered.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Want me to back you up?" Percy asked.

Letting Percy help would only make us both look bad. This chump was challenging me and me alone. It would be a chicken shit move to make it two on one. Although, I did feel good hearing the confidence in Percy's voice, this was my fight. "No. He's mine." Percy nodded and joined the others in the stands. Soon, it was just me and tree trunks. It got real quiet.

A girl stood up in the crowd with a five foot spear in her hand. She had the same build and height as the guy I was facing, but she had brown hair.

"Hey, Crix!" Barf breath turned to face her. "Give him a nice warm welcome from cabin five!" She threw the spear in the air and he caught it perfectly. Up close and personal, this thing had a barbed metal tip with a strange flickering red light. Weird.

I saw a celestial short sword laying in the dirt, I guess that's my weapon. I reached down to grab it and as soon as my fingers wrapped around the hilt I saw the face of the man from my vision from before. He was standing right beside me. I tried letting go of the sword, but my grip was holding firm. My eyes returned to the giant of a man. He was standing ever so still, like a stone pillar. Was this a mirage? It was a hot day out and I didn't have that much water to drink. Okay, mental side note, hydration is key to not having trippy illusions. The man slowly spread his legs about shoulder's width apart and slightly bent his knees. He raised his hands up to sky and brought them down slapping his thighs indicating me to do the same stance.

The loud clap on his thighs made me blink and in that blink of an eye he was gone. I don't know why, but I mimicked exactly what that man did. I spread my legs and bent my knees, while I held the sword slightly angled outwards beside my right leg. This felt right, natural even. I returned my attention back to this so called Crix and stared him down. He spat out a fat loogie and started to run at me with the spear aimed straight at my belly. Oh boy! Here comes that adrenaline rush. Let the games begin.

I brought my blade upwards, deflecting the spear and pivoting at the same time around his flank. As I came around, I sent a vicious left elbow to the back of his head. He recovered faster than I anticipated and swung the spear around to my side. I raised my sword and connected with spear blade. We locked weapons and were pushing against one another. A strange rush of energy coarsed through my body, it felt like I drank a can of Redbull. But what was stranger was the look Crix was giving me. It was a mix of disbelief, amazement and anger.

"How come you're not..." He began.

I saw this as an opportunity, he loosened his pressure on my sword and his legs were straightened. I don't know what he was trying to say and I didn't care. I cut him off by headbutting his nose. He dropped the spear and stumbled back a couple feet. I raised my leg up, using all the strength I had, and planted a kick in the middle of his chest plate. He fell straight on his back. He looked up at me from the ground, still confused, and coughed out some dirt. The crowd erupted in cheers.

He shook his head and said something to himself. The campers were too loud, all I could hear was "Spear...cook eggs with...didn't even faze him." I had no clue what that meant, but I knew one thing for sure. I definitely passed my rookie challenge.


	11. Chapter 11

Ch 11 You've been...THUNDERSTRUCK!

A conch horn sounded over the cheering campers, which seemed to fuel them even more. I saw Percy hop the stone wall and run towards me.

"You took on Crix Aldarik, a son of Ares and won! How do you feel?" He asked.

I exhaled deeply. "Hungry"

"Well there's plenty to eat at the mess hall, but I bet Crix is gonna skip out on dessert."

"Oh ya, why is that?"

"Because you already served him up some mud pie!" We started laughing our asses off and walked to dinner with everyone else.

The mess hall had a simple design, just Greek columns with torches on them. No walls and no ceilling, there were only twelve tables situated in the middle of the columns. My guess is that each table was reserved for each god. Percy and I took a seat (more like a sliver) at the extremely crowded Hermes table. Apparently, you could just imagine any sort of food or drink and it would appear in front of you. Now, when I saw a big plate of nachos explode into existence before me, I wasn't that surprised considering what I've been through in the past weeks. What really shocked me was the fact that we had to throw a part of our meal in the fire. Connor told me it was a sacrifice to the gods, but he said sometimes he would throw in plastic noodles to try and trick the gods while eating the original noodles. He told me it worked fifty percent of the time, the other half of the time lots of bad stuff would happen to him for a week or two. Stubbed toes, bad acne, explosive sharts and disappearing pants. That sort of thing.

After we demolished our meals, Chiron gave us a kick-ass speech on team work and announced capture-the-flag would begin shortly. Now this was my type of game! We left the benches and made our way towards a crowd of campers. They seem to be huddled around something. You would think that everyone was getting their ribbons to put around their waists, but no, apparently each player got some armor and steel. It's going to take awhile for me to get used to this.

Unfortunately, Percy and I got separated in the mob. The last time I saw him he was equipped with an over sized Greek helmet, a shield that looked like it weighed as much as he did and a set of armor that could fit two of him. That blonde chick was right beside him, whispering in his ear. Well shit, I thought, Percy and Annabeth. I'm just so baffled by all this juicy gossip...HA! No thanks, I'll leave all that drama shit to the children of Aphrodite. But I wish him the best of luck with that one, the guy is going to need it.

It seemed to me that all the campers were going after the shinier equipment at the front, but my eyes wondered further down the table. At the very end of the table, I saw an old armor stand covered in dust and cobwebs. I got a closer look and immediately fell in love. The helmet was beautiful. Bronze built, ancient greek frame with horse hair top and bad ass looking. The armor was just as cool. The cuirass, arm guards and greaves all were bronze with a leather finish. Leaning on the armor stand was a seven foot tall wooden spear with an iron tip, a bronze shield and the deadliest bronze sword I've ever seen. The length of the sword was only three feet, but the part that caught my eye was the overall shape of the blade. The base of the blade was at a right angle like most swords, but a quarter of the way up both sides of the blade were curved differently. The bottom side angled out diagonally and began a gradual outwards curve to the point. The top side had slightly curved out (making a broader secondary point around three-quarters up the blade) and back in to finally connect with the point at the top. Also, half of the cross guard curved down along side the hilt and the other began at the pommel to curve upwards again parallel to the hilt. The cross guards didn't connect, instead they had a small opening between each other. I brushed of the all the webs, gripped the sword tightly and felt a pinch in the back of my brain.

"Kathairo" A voice said behind me, using a strange language that I'd never heard before. I turned to see Chiron looking at me nervously. "Do you know what that means, Hector?"

"Purifier" I replied without hesitation or thought. How the hell did I know that?

"Ancient Greek, it's been hard-wired into your brain since birth." He said. Was he reading my mind? "All demi-gods possess this genetic ability, as do some weapons possess their own names and histories. The sword you grasp in your hand bears the name Purifier. It has had many masters in the past, such as; King Leonidas of Sparta and Alexander the Great, but the last hero to ever hold this weapon was Hector...of Troy. Kathairo some how found it's way here and became a relic with no master to wield it. Until one day, a few decades past, a young man by the name of John came to our Camp. He ignored the newer weapons from our armory and saw a blade that had a veil of dust webs. He removed the filth from the blade, just as you have done, and later completed countless quests with Purifier over his years at Camp Half-Blood."

He paused, his eyes slightly squinting with a saddened expression on his face. "You... you have the same eyes as him."

"Hector!" Someone said behind me. I turned to find Annabeth with crossed arms looking at me impatiently. "Everyone has their battle positions and you haven't even suited up, what gives?"

"Sorry, Chiron and I were ju..." When I turned around the centaur was gone. "Umm, I guess I was just talking to myself because I'm weird like that."

"Right," She said with one eyebrow raised in confusion. "Just put your armor on and follow me, we got a game to win."

She didn't have to tell me twice, I suited up and followed Annabeth into the woods. She gave me a blue colored plume to put on top of my helmet. She filled me in on the teams. Ares, Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite and Hephaestus cabins are the Red team. Athena, Apollo and Hermes are the Blue team. We walked over a small ridge and at the top of this hill was a ten foot tall flag. The fabric was a grey silk with a design of an owl above an olive tree. It was beautiful.

I lifted Purifier in the direction of the flag. "That ours?" I asked Annabeth

"Yup and you're going to be deffending it, along with Shayla."

"And...who else?"

"What do you mean? The rules say that you're only allowed two campers to deffend the flag."

I could not believe the words that had just come from her mouth. What the fuck did she think this was? A dance-off!? I guess we could choreograph a pop and lock routine, I'm sure that would definitely ward off the giant children of Ares.  
Rules or not, this was suicide, especially after the shit I pulled with Crix. He's going to be looking for payback.

"Look, Annabeth, at least place nine or ten campers at the bottom of the hill. That way they're not deffending the flag directly, but can still ward off anyone from Red team. I don't want to get overrun."

"Look, HECTOR," She said sarcastically. "My cabin already came up with a plan and we're sticking to it."

"In my opinion, a great deffense is a great offense." I took a step forward to let her know I wasn't playing around. "We have the high ground, we can easily wear them down with more help!"

She followed up my step with her own and we were now staring eye to eye. Inches from each other. "I am the daughter of the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy!" She shouted in my face. "I know every dip, creek, rock, rise and tree in these woods! I have years of experience in participating in Chiron's war games. What qualifies you to call the shots!? You're just a stray!

I was about to put Annabeth's godly heritage to the test, but I felt a soft touch on my shoulder and heard a voice of an angel. "I think we'll be alright, Annabeth."

I knew she was gorgeous before I even turned to look at her. Her light brown hair was in a ponytail, but a single strand of hair dangled in front of her face. Very cute. She wore a single layer of leather armor with an under shirt. Very sexy. And the second our eyes connected, I was the weakest person at camp. She turned me into water with those mahogany-brown eyes, my knees were jelly and my mouth went dry.

"I'm Shayla, daughter of Apollo."

"Um...Uh, Hector."

"Well, Um Uh Hector, the chances of the Red team actually making it to us are very slim. You don't have to worry. Clarisse prefers chaos over plans and she's their leader."

"Listen to Shayla, you might learn something." Annabeth hissed.

I shook my head and let my hands drop, hitting the sides of my thighs in annoyance. "Fine," I said while turning to meet Miss Perfect. "but just out of curiosity, where's Percy?" It was dark out, so the expression she was making looked ten times scarier. A grim, serious and deadly looking Annabeth simply took two steps back and ran into the woods. I have a feeling Percy is going to have a rough night.

Moments later, a conch horn sounded which signaled the start of the game. I still had some doubt in the back of my mind about Annabeth's plan and the way she regarded the defense of our flag was odd. I could tell something else was on her mind. And that's what bothered me. She wasn't thinking about us two and the flag. I shook the worries from my thoughts and glanced over at Shayla. She now had a wooden bow in her hand and a back pack at her feet.

"Wanna see something cool?" She asked me.

"Sure"

She grabbed something from her bag. It was a foot long cylindrical fiery orange object with this charcoal wire coming from the bottom of it. She pulled out an arrow from her quiver and tied the object onto it with some string. She took out this lighter from her pocket that had an emblem of the sun on it. While she was lighting the bottom of the charcoal wire, I realized it was a god damn firework.

"If Chiron asks, it was the Hermes cabin, okay?" She told me.

"Wait, I'm in the Hermes cabin though." I protested, but it was too late. She aimed the bow straight up and shot the arrow upwards.

One mississippi, two mississippi and boom. The sky exploded in a beautiful display of orange colors. Every shade of orange was up there and going in every direction. Cheers sprang out from all over the woods. Oddly, the fireworks just kept going. They must have been magic. Shayla and I sat on a log and watched the fireworks go off. Minutes passed and they slowly started to dissipate in the sky. I was just about to attempt a casual converstion with Shayla, but somethng cracked behind us.

I turned and was immediately sucker punched in the face. My helmet flew off and I hit the ground hard. My vision was slightly blurry and I had the taste of blood on my lips. Someone drove their foot into my ribcage, for a moment, all the air in my body left. I got to my knees and gasped for breath, but the only thing I got was a kick to the chest. My head was spinning, I was on my side in the dirt and I heard laughter. My vision returned, I saw six armored guys infront of me, one of them had Shayla by the hair. Her face looked bruised and scrapped. The guy who was holding her took off his helmet. Crix Aldarik. I knew I'd see him again.

"Looks like the rookie was about to have some fun with my girl here." Said Crix while throwing Shayla to the ground. He made his way over, pulled me to my feet and got in my face. I could smell liquor on his breath. "Having a mom who owns a bar is pretty sweet, but you do know what's better?"

He leaned in closer and whispered "Revenge". He cocked his head back and headbutted me. CRACK. An immense pain was building up in my nose, it might have just broke. I fell right back to the ground with blood pooling out my nostrils.

"Before I beat your ass to a pulp, there's one thing I've always been curious about," Crix walked up to an injured helpless Shayla, knelt down and ran his fingers over her leather armor. " I've always wondered what was under all that leather."

Crix started aggressively tearing off bits of leather from Shayla's armor and simultaneously undoing his belt. "Soften him up for me boys. I'll join you in a bit." He ordered his brothers. All of them were silent and shuffled uncomfortably. Crix noticed and responded. "Chiron is busy with Clarisse and that new kid, so how about you guys grow some balls and soften him up!"

The five of them hesitantly obeyed his command and marched towards me, but I wasn't worried about them. The only person I was focused on was Shayla. She was badly beaten. Crix went back to groping her. Shayla started weeping, her whole body was shaking in terror. I managed to steady myself on one knee. Crix began to lick her neck and place his hand down her pants. She was letting out these convulsive gasps that echoed through my ears. She caught my gaze, raised her hand out to me and mouthed the words "Help me".

My head was throbbing, my ribs were bruised and my nose was broken, but that was nothing compared to what I was about to do these pieces of shit. Spit was falling from my mouth because I clenched my teeth so tightly. I thought they were going to shatter. My shield and spear were on the ground infront of me. An uncontrollable anger took hold. My fists shook violently, blood was still running out my nose and now going down my jaw. I grabbed my shield and used the spear to push myself up on both feet. I cocked it back and launched it towards Crix. The spear hit it's mark. The metal head pierced Crix's hand, came out the other side and dug into the dirt.

"Ahhhhhh!" A blood curdling scream rang out.

The Ares kids looked at their leader, then looked at me with anger in their eyes. I unsheathed Purifier and let out a war cry that was so loud it hurt my throat. I put every ounce of hate I had into it. A couple of the warriors took a step backwards, I saw fear on their faces. I charged at them running full steam ahead and body slammed the first guy's face using my shield. Then lunged to my left, using the side cross guards of my sword as brass knuckles, I placed a heavy punch on the side of another guy's helmet. He stumbled back and I saw that I made a dent in his helmet. I spun around on my ankles to the next guy and drove the edge of my shield down on his shoe. I felt his foot break in multiple places.

I'd lost a lot of my momentum and the fourth guy took advantage of it. I received a hard knee to my cheek bone. That disoriented me enough to drop my shield. The fifth guy slashed at my back, making a cut from my right shoulder all the way down across to my left hip. I let out a loud cry, but my fury outweighed my pain. Swiftly bringing my short sword around, I sliced off three of his fingers which caused him to drop his sword. Another blade ripped through my skin directly across my hamstring. That put me down on one knee. The others had recovered, I guess, because someone two hand shoved me in the back sending me face down in the dirt.

I pushed myself to a semi push-up position and was met with a kick right to my bruised side. After that hit, time slowed down and it felt like I was under water. They started to gang beat me, at this point I felt the impact of their kicks and punches, but I no longer felt the pain afterwards. I put all my remaining strength into firmly holding myself up. I wasn't going to let these bastards beat me while I was face down in the mud. Each hit was harder than the last, my arms were getting weaker. I heard someone laughing, then a blade was slowly dragged over my forearms. A hand ran through my hair, yanked hard and pulled me upright. The cold metal of a knife was on my throat. I opened my eyes and saw Crix standing before me, clutching one bloodied hand to his chest and wielding a sword in the other. He gave me a sinister smile and raised his weapon to indicate something in the direction he was pointing. I followed the point of his sword and saw Shayla still weeping about fifteen feet away on the ground. I turned back to see that Crix was licking his lips.

No, I thought to myself, I have to save her. I'm not going to lose her like Sally. "Never again." I muttered under my breath. Something strange happened, I felt a sudden tug in my gut. Then a single rain drop splashed on my forehead, then another and another. Within seconds, there was a downpour of heavy rain. I looked up and just caught the sky flashing with white light. A blink of an eye later, the ground exploded around me sending all six guys flying in all directions. It was like a mortar shell went off, but it was right on top of me. I felt fine, better than fine, so I got to my feet. The hairs on my arms were completely singed off and the gaping cuts Crix gave me were now simply white scars. My nose had stopped bleeding as well.

I ran to Shayla's side, knelt down and propped her up with my arm. I took a quick glance behind me. All six of those guys, including Crix, were burnt to a crisp. Their bodies were charred black and had heaps of smoke coming off them. Did I do that? I focused back on Shayla, she needed medical attention fast. I picked her up effortlessly and turned to walk down the hill. To my surprise, every single camper was at the bottom of the hill staring at me with their jaws dropped.

"Hector," Shayla whispered from my arms. I looked down at her to find see that her face had a blue and red light on it. She gestured to something above me "Look."

I raised my eyes to somewhat of a light show. Two symbols were twirling around eachother, one blue and one red. The blue looked like a lighting bolt and the red looked like an axe. They slowly started to fade and disappear, leaving nothing but darkness.

"You must come with me, quickly!" Said Chiron, who had just appeared from no where. Grover came up the hill and took Shayla from my arms without saying a word. She quickly grabbed my hand, placed something in it and mouthed the words "thank you". The satyr trotted back down the hill with Shayla safely in good hands. I opened my hand and saw that lighter she'd used for the firework arrow.

"NOW, BOY!" Chiron shouted. He reached out his hand.

I grabbed it and was slung onto his horseback. He took off galloping with amazing speed. We were out of the woods in a matter of moments and racing towards the hill with the Pine tree on it. He let me off just beside the tree and on the grass to my left there was a leather satchel.

"In that you'll find some valuable supplies." Chiron began. "You must listen to me carefully, Hector. At the bottom of the other side of this hill, there will be a road. Parked on that road is an autobile with your uncle in it. He will explain everything"

"What? I don't have an..."

"Please, Hector, there is no time to explain. It's too dangerous here for you. I should have realized who your parents were. Your real parents"

"What are you talking about, I know who my..."

"RUBBISH!" He shouted. "Your parents were John and Keiara Ceci. You are the grandson of Zeus and Ares, and you have no idea how powerful you are. Now go!"

I could not believe what I was hearing, there was a whirlpool of questions in my head. But all I did was grab that satchel and run down that hill, not knowing if I'd ever see this place again.

THE END

Follow up story coming soon :)


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